Key Takeaways:
- Proper document life cycle management significantly reduces the need for employees to recreate lost documents, highlighting the importance of implementing document management software in organizations.
- Familiarizing with the stages of the document lifecycle—from creation to obsolescence—provides a structured approach to managing documents effectively.
- Key stages such as creation, approval, storage, distribution, retrieval, change control, and obsolescence underscore the need for meticulous attention to detail.
Did you know that 83% of employees need to recreate missing documents? This is an excellent reason to set up document management software in your organization!
However, before employing any software, it is crucial to learn about the entire document lifecycle management process. This knowledge will help organizations create a roadmap and proceed ahead accordingly.
An effective document lifecycle management system consists of multiple phases, starting from the point of document creation and ending with the document being destroyed. Let’s understand the document lifecycle stages in detail.
Implement a document management system early in your organization's growth to establish efficient workflows and ensure data integrity. Prioritize user-friendly platforms with comprehensive features like version control and metadata indexing to streamline document lifecycle management.
What Is The Document Lifecycle?
The document lifecycle includes the path taken by a document from its creation to distribution and use and finally to preservation or deletion.
Each phase of this lifecycle necessitates distinct business requirements for optimal information management, demanding corresponding support within a document management system.
The document control life cycle represents an ongoing process rather than a one-time event. It begins when a product is created, identified by its first lines of code, and ends when the product retires.
The document lifecycle management process can be broadly divided into seven stages:
Stage1: Creation
Stage 2: Approval
Stage 3: Storage
Stage 4: Distribution
Stage 5: Retrieval
Stage 6: Change control
Stage 7: Obsolescence
Key Stages Of Document Lifecycle Management Process
There are multiple stages in the documentation process. Let’s understand each stage in the document management lifecycle.
Stage 1: Creation
- Control who creates documents in your system
- Track changes through version control and audit trails
- Maintain document ownership throughout a file’s lifecycle
Lack of control over the entry of existing documents in your system compromises traceability and responsibility for your projects and processes.
It is necessary to identify the quality manual’s author and supporters when creating the system. Businesses must also know who created the SOPs in the QMS in new and existing document systems. It’s crucial to learn whether the documents are created, approved, and managed by those with the necessary power and experience.
Effective handling of document lifecycles gives managers and prospective auditors authority over the source and authenticity of any document in your system. This process guarantees the accuracy of the papers essential to your daily tasks in product design, production, testing, and distribution.
Stage 2: Approval
- Seek approval from key stakeholders prior to use
- Seek re-approval after making changes
- FDA-compliant e-signature approvals are necessary
It is essential to ensure that the right people are chosen to examine and approve documents prior to completion. Ignoring this could lead to the distribution of inaccurate or partial papers, which could seriously jeopardize the integrity of your company or have adverse effects.
For this reason, having the right tools required for document approval is essential to swiftly detect and fix any mistakes.
Stage 3: Storage
- Control the system’s secure access hierarchy
- The system must be GDR-compliant
- The system must be designed to ISO 27001 standard
Document storage is the next crucial step. Protection of critical customer data, products, and business intelligence from loss or misuse is critical. Security flaws are common in companies handling sensitive data. So, protecting vital resources is essential.
Strengthening systems and implementing processes to lessen human error will prioritize employee, customer, and intellectual property protection.
After a document is created and approved, it must be stored securely. This can be done on an internal server, in the cloud, or a document/content management system.
Organizations can distribute business documents across several platforms due to differing usage requirements and lifecycle stages. Keeping everything stored correctly allows for easy access and retrieval when needed.
Stage 4: Distribution
- Publish/share document automation with selected teams
- Support document phase-gating for waterfall project management
Efficient use of resources by organizations requires smart use of tools to publish and distribute relevant documents on time. The governance of data flow becomes unstable without the option to selectively share information with internal teams and external collaborators. It invites instability in project management and compromises security protocols.
The management of document flow stands as a pivotal facet of streamlined and fruitful product development efforts. Through the strategic distribution of necessary documentation to relevant stakeholders at the right times, resource waste can be avoided. A continuous emphasis on meeting specific deliverables in the document system can be maintained throughout the developmental path.
The ability to distribute and provide the proper documents when needed is necessary to maintain operational effectiveness and increase productivity.
Stage 5: Retrieval
- Data must be assessed at “point of need” by entitled parties
- Data must be logically structured
- Data must be indexed for search using meta-data
Retrieving data is one of the essential steps in a document lifecycle. Effective data retrieval is essential for seamless operations, a concept supported by ISO 9001 and ISO 13485, which require papers to be available to stakeholders upon request.
Not being able to quickly retrieve information from document archival systems can result in a significant waste of time and resources and the possibility of missing key business insights.
You May Also Read: 10 Document Management Best Practices in 2024
Metadata indexing allows you to quickly locate documents and prevent organizational knowledge from being lost in complex structures. It also reduces task redundancy and ill-informed decision-making during project processes.
Stage 6: Change Control
- Keep a record of every change in complete audit records
- Protect against unauthorized engineering and process change
- Automate review of changes after implementation
Strong change management processes are the legal and financial barriers that keep your company safe from mistakes and inefficiency. If companies can’t keep an eye on the people and processes involved in document revisions, they run the danger of mistakes going unnoticed, unapproved changes, and projects going wrong.
Independent developers may release new features without the required permissions. A potentially harmful medical device change may have been approved without the input and approval of a multidisciplinary team. Change and access control are, therefore, essential in document management.
Engineering update management mechanisms and Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) protocols ensure that significant modifications are carefully reviewed and approved by the appropriate stakeholders prior to being implemented.
Stage 7: Obsolescence
- Archive documents when they become obsolete
- Keep the latest and up-to-date version of every file
Companies run the danger of unintentional document loss if they have no control over when and how papers become out-of-date. It could result in fines from the authorities or an overloaded system of redundant paperwork.
You May Also Read: Top 14 Free and Open Source Document Management System
ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 need your system to be able to differentiate between new and archived documents to prevent errors, confusion, and lost time. Companies also need to be able to archive documents in accordance with legal standards without having to pay excessive storage fees or sacrificing system speed.
Conclusion
The document lifecycle is a comprehensive approach to managing information, which is one of an organization’s primary resources. Understanding and controlling document flow is essential to ensure that documents serve their intended purpose safely, are kept up to date, and adhere to legal requirements.
By implementing the right tools, rules, and processes, businesses can implement document lifecycle management as a strategic asset to support informed decision-making, increased efficiency, and standard compliance. It’ll help to effectively monitor the flow of documents without adding needless bureaucracy or delays to operations.
Document lifecycle management is important, as insufficient protocols throughout the document lifecycle can put your business at risk of losing important information and institutional knowledge as it expands and changes. This can lead to 'document anarchy' and compromise adherence to important regulations and directives.
Document controls are the processes and technology needed to efficiently manage each stage of a document's life. Tools required for efficient document lifecycle management include Zoho Docs, Shivaami, EisenVault, dMACQ DMS, ClickUp, Notion, etc
Priya is a seasoned writer with expertise in the SaaS industry. With over five years of experience in the field, she deeply understands the requirement of this specific industry, its techniques, and tools. Her articles, whitepapers, and blog posts are known for their clarity, practicality, and actionable insights. Priya also possesses in-depth knowledge of SEO and content marketing, which enables her to develop effective strategies to increase website traffic and improve brand visibility.
